Tunnel driving machine steering system



Filed March 6, 1967 Dec. 10, 1968 E. LAUBER 3,415,574

TUNNEL DRIVING MACHINE STEERING SYSTEM 3 SheetS- Sheet 1 IYT H A 2 (I23/.1 40 FIG.)

I F- 40 i 22 ll h v 10 Q "O Wm l O V 2 l i l g is INVENTOR.

FKA/ST LJHABQQ Dec. 10, 1968 E. LAUBER TUNNEL DRIVING MACHINE STEERINGSYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1967 mvzzzv'roza.

6 W LAULBQQ BY Dec. 10, 1968 E. LAUBER 3,415,574

TUNNEL DRIVING MACHINE STEERING SYSTEM Filed March 6, 1967 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. T lJWkQR United States Patent 3,415,574 TUNNELDRIVING MACHINE STEERING SYSTEM Ernst Lauber, Than, Switzerland,assignor to Maschinenfahriir Hahegger AG, Then, Switzeriand Filed Mar.6, 1967, Ser. No. 621,038 Claims priority, appiication Germany, Mar. 11,1966, M 68,725 19 Ciaiins. (Cl. 299-31) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Atunnel driving system comprises a tunnel driving machine adapted to beguided by the walls of a tunnel being driven, a steering deviceconsisting of a self-contained unit, and towing means detachablyconnecting said steering device as a trailer to said tunnel drivingmachine. The rear end of the tunnel driving machine has a rearwardlyextending trunnion, which is adjustable in two different directionswhich are normal to the axis of the trunnion and at an angle to eachotherQThe steering device comprises adjusting means which engage thetrunnion and are operable to adjust the trunnion in said two directions.

This invention relates to a tunnel driving machine, which is guided bythe wall of the tunnel behind the tools disposed on the forward face ofthe machine. When a tunnel is driven by a machine, it must be possibleto correct an unintended deviation from the required direction of thetunnel as well as to drive a curved tunnel. For these purposes, the mainaxis of the machine must be laterally displaced relative to the axis ofthe tunnel in a horizontal direction to the left and right and in avertical direction upwardly and downwardly.

A machine is known which has a central axial main tube, which isprovided in each of two spaced apart transverse planes with fourhydraulic jacks, to which running gears are secured in such a mannerthat respective running gears roll along the tunnel floor, the tunnelroof and the two side walls of the tunnel. During a steering operation,the pistons of the rear jacks remain in an intermediate position and therunning gears of these jacks define a point of reference whereas one ofthe forward jacks is extended and the opposite one is retracted so thatthe axis of the machine follows a curve. Owing to the cylinder assembly,this steering system requires a special de sign of the overall machine.It is unfavorable that the steering jacks are relatively close to thedrilling or cutting tools, where the highest cutting forces areeffective. The adjustment of the jacks requires an expensive andcomplicated hydraulic control system and the operation is complicatedand difficult.

Another known machine comprises a control shoe closely behind the drumwhich carries the cutting tools, and a supporting shoe at the rearportion of the machine. For a steering operation, the position of thecontrol shoe is changed with the aid of a hydraulic jack whereas thesupporting shoe serves as a point of reference. In this case too, thesteering conditions are not clearly apparent and the steering device isvery close to the cutting zone so that the possibility of an occurrenceof errors during the correction is increased. The same remark isapplicable to a modification, in which adjustable running gearscomprising rollers are used rather than the control shoe which slides onthe floor of the tunnel.

Another known steering device, which has been used originally with theso-called shield jacking machines, comprises advancing jacks, which areused also for a change in direction. In the jacking machines, theadvancing jacks are laterally disposed in most cases, a steering ispossible ice only in a horizontal plane whereas vertical changes indirection are elfected by a vertical adjustment of the control shoe orrunning gears which have been described. As in all steering systemswhich comprise hydraulic jacks, the design and operation are relativelycomplicated. Besides, the advancing jacks are in most. cases obliquelyarranged between the body of the machine and the lateral abutment platesso that difiicult geometrical conditions result during the driving of atunnel along a curve and render an accurate steering almost impossible.Difiicult corrections must then be made by hand in accordance withspecial calculations, and an automatic control with this system is notpossible.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate these disadvantages and toprovide a tunnel driving machine with a steering device, which is simpleand suitable for a simple and automatic operation and which is suitablefor use with tunnel driving machines regardless of the type of tools andof the carrying body of the machine and results in a highly accuratesteering and can be adjusted to different tunnel diameters.

The invention is essentially characterized in that the tunnel drivingmachine is provided with a steering device, which consists of aself-contained unit, which is independently supported in the tunnel anddisposed behind the tunnel driving machine and is detachably connectedto it by towing rods or the like, and the tunnel driving machine isprovided at its rear end with a preferably central trunnion, whichextends rearwardly and is held in the steering device for adjustment intwo directions, which are at an angle to each other and normal to theaxis of the trunnion, preferably in vertical and horizontal directions.As the steering device is designated as an independent unit, it is notinfluenced 'by the design of the tunnel driving machine and the lattermay have carrying bodies of various types, e.g., an assembly of tubularsections or a lattice structure or a central axial main element. It issufiicient if the tunnel driving machine is provided with the rearwardlyextending, central trunnion. The steering device may be disconnectedfrom the tunnel driving machine in the tunnel and can be separatelytransported too. It will be understood that an adjustment of thetrunnion in one direction and/or the other will result in a change ofthe position of the axis of the machine relative to the tunnel axis sothat the desired steering to both sides and upwardly and downwardly isenabled. The movement of the trunnion is resolved into two components sothat all directions can be obtained whereas the control is restricted totwo straight-line movements so that the control device can be simple andclearly arranged. The steering movement is transmitted to a point whichis spaced as far as possible from the forward guide means for the tunneldriving machine so that the steering can be etfected with a higheraccuracy and the rigid guidance of the tunnel driving machine in thetunnel is improved by the large length in which the machine is fixed.Such rigid guidance is required for drilling in hard rock. The tunneldriving machine can be guided and supported substantially by rigidparts.

Two screws, which are adapted to be driven independently of each other,are provided for adjusting the trunnion. These screws may be driven byrespective worm gearings, e.g., from an electric stop motor or ahydraulic motor. In contrast to hydraulic jacks, the screws can becontrolled in a simple manner so that the possibility of errors inoperation is much reduced]. If a self-holding bushbutton control systemis employed for generating the adjusting commands, a first pair ofpushbuttons for one movement, e.g., the horizontal movement, and anotherpair of pushbuttons for the other movement, e.g., for the verticalmovement, are sufficient. The pushbuttons may be mounted on a controlpanel which is remote from the machine and disposed, e.g., at thestation where the direction of the tunnel axis is controlled so that thesteering is remotely controlled. In contrast to other steering systems,the design according to the invention enables an automatic control ofthe adjustment of the trunnion. For this purpose, a gyro compassprovided with a course recorder may be mounted on the tunnel drivingmachine so that the deviation of the direction of the machine axis fromthe desired direction is indicated and transmitted to a surfaceintegrator. The integrator and the electronic control circuitry convertthen the deviations from the course into control commands for switchingthe motors for driving the screws so that steering of the machine isfully automatic. When a switching from automatic steering to manualsteering is enabled, the operator of the machine may steer by a directactuation of the pushbuttons. In the case of automatic steering, theadjusting commands required for steering along an are or a pregivencurve may be stored as a program in the electronic control circuitry.

A particularly suitable design of the adjusting mechanism will beobtained if the screws are rotatably mounted in a housing or the likeand held against axial displacement, each spindle carries a crosshead,which is guided so as to be non-rotatable and provided with female screwthreads, and a connecting-rod is connected to the crosshead and isformed at its other end with a bearing eye for the trunnion. In thiscase the trunnion is held in the two connecting-rods, each of whichleads to a crosshead, and the trunnion can be adjusted as desired by adisplacement of the crossheads by means of the screws. To eliminatebacklash throughout the system, the trunnion carries a bearing ring orthe like, to which a tension element is connected, which extendsapproximately in the bisector of the angle between the screws and isconnected to a. hydraulic jack, to which pressure fluid is constantlyapplied.

In another design, a carriage is provided, which is displaceable by oneof the screws in a guide frame, and the trunnion is received by abearing body, which is mounted in the carriage for displacement by theother screw in a direction which is transverse to the direction ofmovement of the carriage.

For a reliable supporting of the steering device in the tunnel so as toavoid a loosening of the device during the adjustment of the trunnion,the housing or the like which contains the means for adjusting thetrunnion is mounted with two rollers on rails which are carried by alower carriage, and, by means of hydraulic jacks, to which pressure isconstantly applied, the housing is urged against a skid which engagesthe roof of the tunnel. As the housing is mounted on the two rollers, itcan follow the vertical adjustment of the trunnion and the resultinginclination of the machine axis and of the trunnion while the rollersperform slight movements along the rails. To enable also a lateralpivotal movement of the trunnion during a hori zontal adjustment,whereby the housing or the like is also somewhat pivotally movedrelative to the carriage, the axes of the rollers are inclined relativeto each other and the rollers have conical treads and conical flanges. Aforce-transmitting connection between the housing or the like and thetunnel driving machine in the axial direction of the trunnion isobtained by the provision of at least one compression spring, which actsbetween the lower carriage and the housing or the like, and cooperatingpressure and slide bars are mounted on the rear end face of the tunneldriving machine and the forward end wall of the housing.

Each of the rails for the carriage is supported by vertical andhorizontal supports against two runners, which are interconnected bydiagonal struts, and the supports and diagonal struts are exchangeableagainst similar elements, which are shorter or longer. It is thuspossible to use the same carriage for tunnels which ditter in diameter,provided that the supports and struts are exchanged against longer orshorter ones. To enable the same adjustment of the top supportingstructure, supplemental members can be inserted between the housing orthe like and the jacks which provide for the top support, or betweenthese jacks and the sliding shoe. In this case, the sliding shoeconsists suitably of two lateral skids, which are connected by ribs, andof a cover sheet.

Without change in the design of the steering device, the carriage andthe skids as well as the sliding shoe may be replaced by rollers or bycrawler systems.

An embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example on theaccompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing atunnel driving machine provided with a steering device,

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the steering device on a larger scale,

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line III III of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line IV-1V of FIG. 2 in atunnel which is smaller in diameter.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line VV of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on line VIVI of FIG. 2 on asmaller scale,

FIG. 7 is a top plan view showing the towing rod assembly at the lowercarriage.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the level of the top of the railsand showing the rollers, and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing another means for adjusting thesteering device.

The tunnel driving machine shown in FIG. 1 comprises a machine body 1,which is composed of a plurality of tube sections, and a drum 2, whichis rotatably mounted on the front end of the machine body and carriesthe tool units 3. A propulsion unit 4 comprising hydraulic jacks isprovided for propelling the machine. The tunnel driving machinecomprises a sliding shoe 5, which bears on the floor of the tunnel. Atop sliding shoe 6 is forced by hydraulic jacks 7 against the roof ofthe tunnel and is connected by thrust rods 8 to the machine body 1. Abelt conveyor 9 serves for the removal of material.

A rearwardly extending, central trunnion 10 is pro vided at the rear endof the tunnel driving machine 1 and is held in the steering device foradjustment in vertical and horizontal directions. The steering devicecomprises a support in the form of a housing 11, which consists of endplates and of spacing angles, which connect the end plates. The housing11 carries on the underside track rollers 12, which are mounted betweenoblique carrying plates and by which the housing is mounted on rails 13of a lower carriage. The track rollers 12 have conical treads andconical flanges so that the housing can be pivotally moved laterally, asis apparent from FIG. 8, and the housing 11 can also be forwardly andrearwardly inclined on the rails 13 with a slight rolling movement ofthe track rollers 12 on the rails 13. A compression spring 14 bears onthe carriage and produces a force P to force the housing 11 against therear end wall of the tunnel driving machine 1. Pressure bars 15 andslide bars 16 (FIG. 6), which cross the pressure bars, are provided onthe rear end wall of the machine 1 and on the forward end wall of thehousing, respectively.

Each of the two rails 13 of the carriage is supported by struts 17 ontwo skids 18, which are interconnected by diagonal struts 19.Cross-connectors 20 are provided between the rails 13 and the lowerskids 18. The supports 17 and the diagonal struts 19 may be replaced bysimilar elements, which are shorter or longer. This is apparent from acomparison of FIGS. 3 and 4. In this way, the carriage can be adapted todifferent tunnel diameters. A walk-on platform 21 may be provided on thecarriage and may be used in applying gunite to the tunnel wall or fordrilling holes for anchors to be inserted into .5 the rock. A coredrilling machine 22 may be mounted on the carriage for transversemovement. Core drilling or probing operations before the tunnel drivingmachine may be carried out with this core drilling machine through thehollow trunnion 10, the machine body 1, and the drum 2, which has acentral bore. Such core drilling operations furnish valuable geologicalinformation concerning the nature of the rock and the occurrence ofwater during the tunnel driving operation.

The housing 11 is supported at the top by hydraulic jacks 23, to whichpressure fluid is constantly applied, against a sliding shoe, whichcontacts the roof of the tunnel and consists of two lateral skids 24,which are connected by ribs 25, and of a cover sheet 26. A plurality ofsupplemental members 27 are inserted between the jacks 23 and thehousing 11 (FIGS. 2 and 3). In tunnels which are smaller in diameter,the number of these supplemental members, which are entirely identical,is correspondingly reduced, as is shown in FIG. 4. The skids 24 arearticulatedly connected to the body 1 of the tunnel driving machine bytowing rods 28. A swing beam 29 is pivoted to the forward transversetube 20 of the lower carriage and the lower towing rods 20 and pivotedto the swing beam 29 and connected to the machine body 1 (FIG. 7).

Two screws 31, 32 are provided for adjusting the trunnion 10. The screwsextend in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, and arerotatably mounted in the housing and held against axial movementrelative thereto. Each screw 31, 32 carries a crosshead 33, which isprovided with female screw threads and guided on side bars so as to beheld against rotation. A rotation of the screws will thus result in acorresponding displacement of the associated crosshead. Each crosshead33 has connected to it a two-part connecting rod 34, which is formed atthe other end with a bearing eye for the trunnion 10. A bearing ring 35is mounted on the trunnion between the connecting rods. A roller chain36 is connected to the bearing ring 35 and extends around a reversingroller 37 and then approximately in the bisector of the angle betweenthe two connecting rods 34 to a piston drive 38. Oil under pressure isconstantly applied to the rod end of the piston of the piston drive 38so that a tensile force Z is exerted on the trunnion 10 and the entireadjusting device is held free of backlash. This is essential for a firmfixation of the tunnel driving machine.

FIG. 3 shows the trunnion in an intermediate position, in which the axisof the tunnel driving machine coincides with the axis of the tunnel. InFIG. 4, the trunnion is horizontally adjusted by a distance Y in avertical direction and by a distance X in a horizontal direction so thatthe axis of the tunnel driving machine deviates in "vertical andhorizontal directions from the tunnel axis. As is shown in FIG. 1, thetunnel can be driven with a downward inclination and at the same timewith a curvature to the right. This adjustment with the aid of thescrews is required not only for driving curved portions of the tunnelbut also for a correction of unintended deviations from the intendedaxis of the tunnel.

Each of the two screws 31, 32 is driven from an electric stop motor 39by means of a flexible coupling, a worm gearing 40 land a chain drive41. The motor must be a stop motor so that the rotor is immediatelybraked when the adjusting command has ceased, and the rotor is thenblocked so that an unintended adjustment is prevented. Alternatively, ahydraulic motor may be provided, to which oil under pressure is appliedand which has such a small rotor mass that it is immediately stoppedwhen the supply of oil has been shut oif. Just as with electric stopmotors, the control may be eifected by electric contacts with the aid ofmagnetic valves, which shut oif the supply and discharge of hydraulicoil to and from the motor to block the same when the valves are in anintermediate position.

FIG. 9 shows a different means for adjusting the trun- 6. nion 10. Thismeans is similar in operation to a compound slide. A carriage 42. ismounted in the housing 11 for upward and downward displacement by ascrew 31. The worm wheel of the worm gearing 40 is formed with thefemale screw threads and the screw 31 is held against rotation. Abearing body 43 is mounted in the carriage 42 and receives the trunnion10. The bearing body 43 can be reciprocated in a horizontal direction,transversely to the direction of movement of the carriage 42, by thescrew 32. Each of the worm gearings. 40 is driven by an electric orhydraulic motor.

What is claimed is:

1. A tunnel driving system, which comprises a tunnel driving machineadapted to be guided along the walls of a tunnel being driven, asteering device consisting of a self-contained unit, towing meansconnecting said steering device as a trailer to said tunnel drivingmachine, and means for supporting said tunnel driving machine and saidsteering device independently of each other in said tunnel, said tunneldriving machine having a rear end, which carries a rearwardly extendingtrunnion and which is adjustable in two different directions, which arenormal to the axis of said trunnion and at an angle to each other, saidsteering device comprising adjusting means, which engage said trunnionland are operable to adjust said trunnion in said two directions.

2. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 1, in which said towingmeans comprise towing rods.

3. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 1, in which saidtrunnion is centrally disposed at said rear end of said tunnel drivingmachine.

4. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 1, in which said twodirections are vertical and horizontal, respectively.

5. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 1, in which saidadjusting means comprise two screws respec- :tively extending in saiddirections, and means for driving said screws independently of eachother.

6. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 5, which comprises abearing ring mounted on said trunnion, a hydraulic piston drive, meansfor permanently applying pressure fluid to said piston drive, and atension element which connects said bearing ring to said piston driveand extends substantially in the bisector of the angle between said twoscrews.

7. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 5, which comprises aguide frame, a carriage, which is displaceable in said guide frame bymeans of one of said screws, and a bearing body, which is mounted insaid carriage and displaceable relative thereto by the other of saidscrews in a direction which is transverse to the direction of movementof said carriage, said trunnion being held in said bearing body.

8. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 5, in which said meansfor driving said screws comprise two worm gearings.

9. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 8, in which said screwsare rotatable and in engagement with non-rotatable, axially fixed nutsand said worm gearings are operatively connected to said screws torotate the same.

10. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 8, in which saidscrews are non-rotatable and in engagement with rotatable, axially fixednuts, and said worm gearings are operatively connected to said nuts torotate the same.

11. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 5, in which saidsteering device comprises a frame, in which said screws are rotatablyand axially non-displaceably mounted, each of said screws carries acrosshead, which has female screw threads engaging the respective screw,guide means are provided in engagement with said crossheads to hold thesame against rotation, and two connecting rods are provided, each ofwhich is connected at one end to one of said crossheads and is formed atits other end with a bearing eye engaging said trunnion.

12. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 11, which comprises alower carriage, which is provided with rails, track rollers carried bysaid frame and adapted to roll on said rails, a slide shoe adapted toengage the roof of said tunnel, hydraulic jacks interposed between saidframe and said slide shoe, and means for permanently applying hydraulicpressure to said jacks.

13. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12, in which saidtrack rollers have conical treads and conical flanges and are rotatableon axes which are relatively inclined.

14. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12, which comprises atleast one compression spring interposed between said lower carriage andsaid frame, and which comprises cooperating pressure and slide barscarried by the tunnel driving machine at its rear end and by saidsteering device at its forward end.

15. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12, which comprisestwo pairs of skids, diagonal struts connecting the skids of each pair,and vertical and horizontal supports interposed betweeneach of the railsof the carriage and the skids of one of said pair, said supports anddiagonal struts being detachably mounted.

16. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12,

which comprises at least one supplemental member de- 25 tachablyinterposed between said frame and each of said hydraulic jacks.

17. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12, which comprises atleast one supplemental member detachably interposed between each of saidhydraulic jacks and said slide shoe.

18. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12, in which saidslide shoe consists of two lateral skids, ribs connecting said skids,and a cover plate.

19. A tunnel driving system as set forth in claim 12, which comprisescrawler means connected to said frame and adapted to support the same inthe tunnel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,756,036 7/1956 McIntyre 299-31X 3,061,287 10/1962 Robbins 299-31 3,203,737 8/1965 Robbins et a1. 299313,345,108 10/1967 Newman et al. 29931 FOREIGN PATENTS 833,335 3/1952Germany.

37,909 1954 Poland.

ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 17576; 29956

